


Midnight Prayers

by Windona



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 00:37:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5519033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windona/pseuds/Windona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Padme's all alone on her favorite Naboo holiday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Prayers

The Coruscant night was as quiet and still as it could be on a planet so densely populated. The streams of speeders and the hubbub of sentients milling the streets had trickled into a steady background hum in the Senate district, most likely in part due to the scheduled rain. Any people who were milling about were most likely servants going home to their quarters or Senators returning from a late night. Fewer Senators were going home after a late night of work than they used to, however.

A breeze carried scrubbed air pass her on the balcony. She was filled with a faint longing for the fresh lake air of Naboo. As the war went on, Padme felt more and more useless. Her attempts at peace seemed to always crash and burn at the last minute. The bills in the Senate she opposed seemed to get passed with an overwhelming majority more and more often. The only bills that did pass seemed to be mere cosmetic things, unimportant in the grand scheme. More money in the budget went from infrastructure to military, and the war effort seemed to consume the Republic. She wanted to end the war as much as anyone else, but not at the cost of everything else the Republic held so dear. Sometimes she felt like one of the few sane ones, along with her friends in the Senate.

She flipped over her holorecorder, sighing. Earlier that day, she had received greetings from the Queen, her parents, Typho, and the Chancellor. All were for traditional holiday greetings of the Naboo on Agadema.

On Naboo, lights would be lit in crystal lanterns with raindrop or snowflake patterns carved in them. Offerings to the goddess of life and water, Agala, would be given in her temples. People would trade presents, much as Agala was said to have given the people of Naboo life giving water and the weather that would bring it to the few places without a water source. As a child, and later Queen, this had been one of her favorite holidays. But the dreariness of Coruscant, the fact that it forced her to hold a party earlier this week mostly for those who would never appreciate it, and the fact that her husband couldn’t celebrate it with her had put a damper on her holiday spirit.

Small crystal lanterns decorated her home, and with her normal overhead lights off it created a serene blue glow, contrasting with the yellow and red lights of the city. Her hands curled around a mug of warm milk, sipping it piece by piece in hopes it would ease her to bed. An unwrapped present sat on a nearby table.

Shivering, Padme felt she had enough of her melancholy and thoughts. She took a deep swig of her milk, and gave the city one last glance, mentally gathering herself to go to bed. Listening to the still air, she heard the soft tread of someone else in her apartment.

She smiled as she felt herself being hugged from behind, with warm breath settling on her collarbone before feeling a kiss on her neck. Warm words- “I missed you”- entered her ear.

“I didn’t expect you to be back tonight,” she said quietly, not daring to shatter the moment.

“Neither did I. But we made it happen.” He pressed another kiss, this time on her jaw, into her skin. “But I didn’t come home to talk about the war.” She felt his head tilt, and he paused. “Those crystals… it’s Agadema today?”

Padme’s eyes flickered to the chronometer in the corner of the room. “Well, technically it ended last night. But yes, I still consider it to be the day.”

“Did you get my present?” His voice was fragile, uncertain. It reminded her of when he had asked her if she meant what she said, not daring to hope but doing so anyway.

“Threepeo delivered it right on time. It was wonderful.” Padme smiled as she remembered opening up the small package, finding a pressed flower that smelled sweet and earthy. She knew Anakin had probably picked it on a carnage strewn battle field, but oddly that only made the sentiment more appealing, as he had sent her the rare beauty of a deadly place. It was certainly nicer than the other presents she had received from some colleagues. Even Palpatine seemed to only be able to give her a trinket from Naboo that ended up feeling hollow.

“Can I help you celebrate it? You said it was your favorite holiday.” Now he was resting his chin on her shoulder, undoubtedly leaning over. She turned her head slightly, blushing from how he remembered one sentence she said so long ago.

“Well, it is supposed to be a holiday for family.” A sly smile developed on Padme’s face. “I guess that makes you the perfect person to celebrate with.” She untangled herself from Anakin’s arms, turning to face him. She placed her mug on a nearby table, and walked over so she stood over the center of the table. She had two glass cylinders half full with dyed liquid in red and blue. There was an empty glass bowl in the center, with lights placed under it. She gestured, and Anakin strode over to stand beside her.

“So, what do I need to do?” he asked, looking at the table.

“Well, at midnight, you are supposed to pour the glasses of water together into the bowl, with as many glasses as there are family members.” Padme picked up the glass with water dyed blue. Anakin picked up the red one. “I’ll say the prayers, just follow along.”

She tipped the blue water into the bowl, saying the words she had learned by heart at her mother’s side so long ago. Anakin tipped the water in perfect reverence, mouthing words differently than hers. When all the water had slid into the middle bowl, she said more loudly, “May Agala hear our prayers, and grant us a year without floods but with happiness and prosperity.”

Anakin nodded is assent to the words. Then he looked over a Padme, and asked, “Now what?”

Padme frowned. “Usually we either pour the water into the land we want blessed, or pour it into a stream to be carried out to Agala’s palace. The dyes for the day have to be water safe for that reason. But here…” Looking around the room, it did not need to be said that a metal city layered on top of more city was not the place for either of those rituals to be carried out properly.

Threading his right hand through her hair, Anakin said, “Well, if that’s the case, I might have an idea. The water is drinkable, right?”

Padme nodded. The dyes were essentially food coloring.

“Would it be alright if I made tea from the water?” Anakin’s eyes were gentle, hopeful. “It’s a sacred tea- that way it won’t be blasphemous.”

Padme looked at the swirling colors in the bowl, with red and blue mingling into purple. “Alright. Do you have the ingredient?”

Anakin smiled. “Yes. I told Threepeo to make sure that your kitchen was stocked correctly.”

Padme sighed, content. The galaxy may be spiraling on, further into madness and war, but for this moment she had her husband safe and home, making her tea and helping her celebrate her favorite holiday. For the moment, everything was right.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I made up the holiday for this fic. This was written for the Star Wars Kris Kringle on Tumblr, and for Tumblr User wearebraveyourhighness. Happy holidays!


End file.
